Solanum woodsonii
Not known
Endemic to western Panama on the E-facing slope of Volcán de Barú (Volcán de Chiriquí), 3000-3500 m; clearings in dense rainforests with Chusquea, in rich organic soil.
Solanum woodsonii belongs to the potato clade of Solanum (Bohs, 2005). Spooner et al. (2004) erected the Conicibaccata group to contain the Mexican and Central American species S. agrimonifolium, S. longiconicum, S. oxycarpum, and S. woodsonii. These four species are morphologically distinguished (sometimes with difficulty) as a group by conical fruits, leaves with a somewhat parallel-sided morphology (mentioned in the descriptions as lateral leaflet pairs subequal or diminishing gradually towards the base) and narrowly ovate to elliptical leaflets (Spooner et al. 2001). The species evaluated in North and Central America are all 4x(2EBN) (S. longiconicum is not yet evaluated for EBN, and S. woodsonii is not yet evaluated for ploidy and EBN).
Bohs, L. 2005. Major clades in Solanum based on ndhF sequences. Pp. 27-49 in R. C. Keating, V. C. Hollowell, & T. B. Croat (eds.), A festschrift for William G. D’Arcy: the legacy of a taxonomist. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 104. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
Castillo-T., R. 1995. Phylogenetic relationships of wild potatoes, Solanum series Conicibaccata (sect. Petota). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Castillo-T., R., & D.M. Spooner 1997. Phylogenetic relationships of wild potatoes, Solanum series Conicibaccata (sect. Petota). Syst. Bot. 22: 45-83.
Correll, D.S. 1961. Four new Solanums in section Tuberarium. Wrightia 2: 133-141.
Correll, D.S. 1962. The potato and its wild relatives. Contr. Texas Res. Found., Bot. Stud. 4: 1-606.
Fajardo, D. & D.M. Spooner. 2011. Phylogenetic relationships of Solanum series Conicibaccata and related species in Solanum section Petota inferred from five conserved ortholog sequences. Syst. Bot. 36:163-170.
Hawkes, J.G. 1990. The potato: evolution, biodiversity and genetic resources. Oxford: Belhaven Press.
Hawkes, J.G. 1997. A database for wild and cultivated potatoes. Euphytica 93: 155-161.
Ochoa, C.M. 1979. Nueva papa silvestre Venezolana de la serie Conicibaccata. Biota 11: 331-333.
Spooner, D.M., R. Castillo-T., L. López-J., R. Pineda, R. Léon-P., A. Vargas, M.L. García, & J.B. Bamberg 1995. Colombia and Venezuela 1992 wild potato (Solanum sect. Petota) germplasm collecting expedition: axonomy and new germplasm resources. Euphytica: 81:45-56.
Spooner, D.M., R.G. van den Berg, A. Rivera-Peña, P. Velguth, A. del Rio, & A. Salas 2001. Taxonomy of Mexican and Central American members of Solanum series Conicibaccata (sect. Petota). Syst. Bot. 26: 743-756.
Spooner, D.M. & R.J. Hijmans 2001. Potato systematics and germplasm collecting, 1989-2000. Amer. J. Potato Res. 78:237-268; 395.
Spooner, D.M., R.G. van den Berg, A. Rodríguez, J. Bamberg, R.J. Hijmans, & S.I. Lara-Cabrera 2004. Wild potatoes (Solanum section Petota; Solanaceae) of North and Central America. Syst. Bot. Monog. 68: 1-209 + 9 plates.
Chloroplast DNA restriction site data available in: Spooner and Sytsma (1992) and Castillo (1995); nuclear data in Fajardo & Spooner (2011).
Solanum woodsonii, like all four Mexican and Central American species in the Conicibaccata group, is distinguished by conical fruits, leaves with a somewhat parallel-sided morphology (mentioned in the descriptions as lateral leaflet pairs subequal or diminishing gradually towards the base) and narrowly ovate to elliptical leaflets. It is most similar to S. agrimonifolium and S. oxycarpum. Solanum woodsonii is distinguished from S. agrimonifolium by it fewer numbers of lateral and interjected leaves (3-5 lateral, 0-2 interjected in S. woodsonii vs. 6-6 lateral, 4-31 interjected in S. agrimonifolium), and from S. oxycarpum by its larger leaves (25-40 cm long in S. woodsonii, 15-25 cm long in S. oxycarpum) (Spooner et al. 2001).
Correll (1961) cited a single Venezuelan collection of S. woodsonii (Venezuela: Andes of Trujillo and Mérida, 1225-4300 m, J. Linden 473 p.p.,FI, G, K) and listed other duplicates at OXF, P, US as the type gathering of S. dolichocarpum Bitter, a name he placed with S. colombianum Bitter (Correll 1962). Hawkes (1990) also indicated that S. woodsonii is found in Venezuela, but did not cite an actual specimen. Hawkes (1997, database accompanying his publication) cited no specimen of S. woodsonii for Venezuela, but rather identified different components of J. Linden 473 as S. colombianum and S. otites Dunal. Spooner et al. (1995) collected herbarium specimens of the Conicibaccata group at 16 localities throughout Venezuela, and searched the Andean localities of Trujillo and Mérida and points in between. These cities are more than 100 km apart by air and therefore precluded definitive searches for the locality of Linden 473. Spooner et al. (2004) identified all Venezuelan specimens of the Conicibaccata group as S. colombianum. Their examination of Linden 473 at G, OXF, P, and US showed it to be S. colombianum. In agreement with Ochoa (1979) they did not think that S. woodsonii occurs in Venezuela.